1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal terminal including a wire connection portion to which an electric wire is connectable, and an electrical contact portion to which another metal terminal is connectable. More particularly, the present invention relates to a metal terminal in which the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion are arranged to assume an L-shaped plan configuration. The present invention also relates to a method of forming the metal terminal.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-320906, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wire harness to be mounted on a vehicle, such as an automobile etc., is divided into a plurality of sub-harnesses corresponding respectively to functions of electronic equipments, and these sub-harnesses can be connected together. Therefore, the connection between wires of the sub-harnesses is complicated, and the efficiency of the assembling operation is lowered, and in the worst case, the stable quality is not obtained.
Therefore, in order to facilitate the connection between the electric wires, there has been proposed a plate connector comprising a plurality of plate-like insulating members stacked together, and press-connecting terminals attached to the plate-like insulating members. The plate-like insulating member is made of a synthetic resin. The plate-like insulating member includes a flat plate-like bottom wall, a plurality of partition walls extending upward from this bottom wall, and a plurality of communication holes.
The plurality of partition walls are arranged at equal intervals in parallel relation to one another. Any two adjacent ones of these partition walls jointly form a wire receiving groove therebetween for receiving an electric wire. The communication holes extend through the bottom wall. Each communication hole communicates with a tubular hole in an electrical contact portion of the press-connecting terminal mounted or placed on the bottom wall.
The press-connecting terminal is formed by bending a metal sheet. The press-connecting terminal includes a wire connection portion for connection to the electric wire, and the electrical contact portion of a tubular shape extending from the wire connection portion. The wire connection portion includes pairs of opposed press-connecting blades for being press-connected to the electric wire. A strip-like connection bar of an electrically-conductive nature is inserted in the electrical contact portion. In the press-connecting terminal, the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion are arranged to assume an L-shaped plan configuration (that is, assume an L-shape when seen from above). The press-connecting terminal is placed on the bottom wall of the plate-like insulating member.
The press-connecting terminals are arranged on the plate-like insulating member in two directions, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the wire receiving grooves and in the direction of juxtaposition of the wire receiving grooves. Namely, the press-connecting terminals are arranged on the bottom wall of the plate-like insulating member in a two-dimensional matrix manner. A plurality of plate-like insulating members, each having the press-connecting terminals arranged in a two-dimensional matrix manner, are stacked one upon another, and the connection bar is inserted in the desired electrical contact portions superposed together. By doing so, the plate connector is obtained.
Thus, in the plate connector, the press-connecting terminals for being press-connected to the electric wires are mounted in desired positions on the bottom wall of each plate-like insulating member, and the connection bars are inserted in the desired electrical contact portions, so that the electric wires are interconnected according to a predetermined pattern.
In the press-connecting terminal used in the plate connector, the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion are arranged to assume an L-shaped plan configuration. Therefore, in a metal sheet (blank) used for forming this press-connecting terminal, those portions thereof, corresponding respectively to the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion, are also arranged to assume an L-shape.
Therefore, there is a possibility that during the time when the metal sheet is bent to form the press-connecting terminal, an interconnecting portion of this metal sheet, interconnecting the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion, is deformed, so that the predetermined relative positional relation between the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion after the forming operation can not be obtained. In the worst case, there is a possibility that the interconnecting portion is cut off, so that the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion are separated from each other. Thus, there is a possibility that the yield rate after the forming operation is lowered by such dimensional irregularity.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a metal terminal, as well as a method of forming the metal terminal, in which the yield rate after the forming operation is prevented from being lowered.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a metal terminal which comprises:
a metal sheet comprising:
a first portion for forming a wire connection portion of the metal terminal to which an electric wire is connectable;
a second portion for forming an electrical contact portion of the metal terminal, in which an insertion member connectable to another terminal is insertable, and which extends from the wire connection portion;
a third portion for forming an interconnecting portion of the metal terminal interconnecting the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion,
wherein the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion are disposed at a position assuming an L-shaped plan configuration in the metal terminal; and
a reinforcing interconnection portion which is temporarily formed on the metal sheet so as to interconnect the first portion and the second portion,
wherein when the metal sheet is bent to be formed into a predetermined shape, the reinforcing interconnection portion is removed.
In accordance with the first aspect, the interconnecting portion-corresponding portion (i.e., third portion) is prevented from being deformed before the metal terminal is formed, and the relative positional relation between the connection portion-corresponding portion (i.e., first portion) and the contact portion-corresponding portion (i.e., second portion) is prevented from being changed.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the wire connection portion includes a mounting wall, on which the electric wire can be placed, and a side wall extending upward from the mounting wall, and the electrical contact portion includes a tubular portion for receiving the insertion member, wherein the first portion of the metal sheet includes a fourth portion corresponding to the mounting wall, and a fifth portion corresponding to the side wall, the second portion of the metal sheet includes a sixth portion corresponding to the tubular portion, and wherein the reinforcing interconnection portion of the metal sheet (1) has a strip-like shape, (2) is continuous at one end thereof with the fifth portion, and (3) is continuous at the other end thereof with the sixth portion.
In accordance with the second aspect, the interconnecting portion-corresponding portion (i.e., third portion) is further positively prevented from being deformed before the metal terminal is formed, and the relative positional relation between the connection portion-corresponding portion (i.e., first portion) and the contact portion-corresponding portion (i.e., second portion) is further positively prevented from being changed.
Alternatively, according to a third aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the wire connection portion includes a mounting wall, on which the electric wire can be placed, and a side wall extending upward from the mounting wall, the interconnecting portion (1) has a strip-like shape, (2) is continuous at one end thereof with the side wall, and (3) is continuous at the other end thereof with the electrical contact portion, wherein the first portion of the metal sheet includes a fourth portion corresponding to the mounting wall, and a fifth portion corresponding to the side wall, and wherein the reinforcing interconnection portion of the metal sheet interconnects the fourth portion and the third portion.
In accordance with the third aspect, the interconnecting portion can more easily be deformed, and besides the relative positional relation between the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion can be changed more easily. However, the reinforcing interconnection portion interconnects the mounting wall-corresponding portion (i.e., fourth portion) of the connection portion-corresponding portion (i.e., first portion) and the interconnecting portion-corresponding portion (i.e., third portion). Therefore, the interconnecting portion-corresponding portion (i.e., third portion) is positively prevented from being deformed before the metal terminal is formed, and the relative positional relation between the connection portion-corresponding portion (i.e., first portion) and the contact portion-corresponding portion (i.e., second portion) is positively prevented from being changed.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of forming a metal terminal. The method comprises the steps of:
providing a metal sheet which comprises:
a first portion for forming a wire connection portion of the metal terminal to which an electric wire is connectable,
a second portion for forming an electrical contact portion of the metal terminal, in which an insertion member connectable to another terminal is insertable, and which extends from the wire connection portion,
a third portion for forming an interconnecting portion of the metal terminal interconnecting the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion,
wherein the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion are disposed at a position assuming an L-shaped plan configuration in the metal terminal, and
a reinforcing interconnection portion which is formed on the metal sheet so as to interconnect the first portion and the second portion;
bending the metal sheet to be formed into a predetermined shape; and
removing the reinforcing interconnection portion.
In accordance with the fourth aspect, the advantageous effects similar to the first aspect are obtained.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the removing step is performed after the second portion is bent to be formed into the electrical contact portion and before the first portion is bent to be formed into the wire connection portion.
In accordance with the fifth aspect, the relative positional relation between the electrical contact portion and the wire connection portion is positively prevented from being changed.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the removing step is performed after the first portion and the second portion are bent to be formed respectively into the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion.
In accordance with the sixth aspect, the relative positional relation between the electrical contact portion and the wire connection portion is more positively prevented from being changed.